Today we are sharing a story and some rarely seen illustrations from Josef Lada. This was originally published in Czech as O svátecních houbarích and appeared in Pestrý týden, issue # 24, published on June 15, 1927. We’ve translated it for you and we’re calling it The Festive Mushroom Pickers. Neighborly chatter was coming from one of them....

Ruka or The Hand (in English) was Jiří Trnka’s last film in 1965. Jiří Trnka was born in the city of Plzeň in 1912. His mother was a dressmaker, so he had access to fabrics and other such materials and he taught himself to sew. He was also a very skilled self-taught wood carver, and basically taught himself...

Retro Bohemian Mushroom Cuisine is the name that came to me when I decided to share these photos from my 80’s cookbook, Jihočeská houbařská kuchařka (South Bohemian Mushroom Cookbook). I’ve had mine since I can remember and the pages are worn and dog-eared, but I still use it, especially for unique mushroom recipes. Keep in mind that...

Ella Fitzgerald Brings Jazz to Prague in 1969. That’s right. Singer and First Lady of jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, performed two stellar concerts at the Lucerna Hall in Prague on June 27, 1969. Her performance came just 10 days after the Beach Boys performed there (on June 17th). The summer of 1969 in Prague was rockin’ in more ways than one. These images...

The following images are of Georgian people. Many people believe these are Cossacks. A Cossack is a member of a group of Eastern Slavic people that numbered over 4 million by the start of the 20th century. What many think of as the “Cossack” dress was in fact the traditional style of the Georgian people...

What many think of as the “Cossack” dress was in fact the traditional style of the mountain peoples of the Caucasus. Cossacks were Dagestanis, Terek, Kuban, Ossetians, Kabardians, Ingush, Chechens, Circassians, Tatars, Kumyks, Don, Kalmyks, Urals, Astrakhan to name a few… The key (and most recognizable) piece in the outfit is called the cherkeska, a long flowing...

This post features Georgian women & children. They are a class of Eastern Slavic people that numbered over 4 million by the start of the 20th century. What many think of as the “Cossack” dress was in fact the traditional style of Georgian people and the mountain peoples of the Caucasus. Cossacks were Dagestanis, Terek, Kuban, Ossetians,...

Cossacks are a class of Eastern Slavic people that numbered over 4 million by the start of the 20th century. They emerged in the 14th-15th centuries, forming democratic communities in the great river basins of what is now southern Russia and Ukraine. Since their early days they had maintained the traditions of military training in...